Willits Bypass to Open November 3

Tired of the long waits in traffic at Willits? You’ll be glad to hear this news.

Caltrans announced today that the Willits Bypass is set to open November 3 at 11 a.m. Their Facebook page states, “The ceremony, which will include dedicating the 1.1 mile long viaduct bridge to fallen U. S. Navy Seal Jesse Pittman, will take place on the new highway, at the north end of the viaduct, near the north interchange. The public will be invited, and more details will follow.”

I am so happy this is finally nearing completion. Since moving up here from Oakland back in 2001, and having to travel that route 6-8 times a year since then, the bypass will be a welcome relief. How did the traffic get worse since work began? The same southbound route is still there. Traffic still slows to a crawl as soon as you get close to Willits High School. Northbound has been changed slightly. I can’t wait for it to open.

John I agree with you. The work has not added any more traffic than before. I’m happy to see so many tourist this year.`I hope to see more tourist traffic next year. For us locals it will make shopping in Willits easier.

Even better for those of us that would shop more instead of waiting 20 minutes to get to the next light in a town half the size of Fortuna. Also, there are a lot of people that point A to B is a 15 hour drive and every 20 minute delay along that adds hours to a trip that just wastes gas and time. THose with no intention of stipping don’t have to and those of us that would like to screw around for the day in town can do that too.

I curse the hater of poor people (Rob Arkley) and his blood sucking family every time I have to drive through the cesspool he’s made of Eureka. He’s turned Eureka into a town of the very well off and the very poor and he does everything he can to crush the poor.

If he donated to and supported liberal politicians, things would go better for Rob, wouldn’t it? If Rob was a Lib, I bet he would be praised for trying to work with the city to clean up Eureka’s waterfront.

Does it feel good to stick up for that poor little rich boy? He’s holding the balloon tract hostage waiting for big brother to come in and subsidize him with OUR tax dollars. You think the city council runs the EPA?

I don’t agree that the Balloon Tract was or is prime property. I remember this debate quite well. The libs wanted him to handle the toxic clean up a certain way but Rob was able to find a different way of doing it and it was cost effective. Note: I used to work for him a few years ago in his real estate department. But, that doesn’t make me an expert on this project. I handled his out of state properties. I would love to see if there has been any movement on this at all in the last few years. It seemed at the time, no matter what was being done to move that project forward, someone who has an ax to grind with that family would threaten a lawsuit or put them on blast. If any one of the other “wealthy” people in Humboldt would attempt a major project that is not in line with their beliefs, they too will get the cold shoulder.

The “libs” wanted it done the right way, not the “cost effective way”. Just because cleanup for the property would cost him more than he predicted, it’s not the city’s problem. He should have figured that out before he bought the property, instead of throwing a tantrum to get his way. I hope nobody buys your insurance. I know I wouldn’t want to buy crop insurance from someone who holds Arkley in high regards. Thanks for sharing your opinion so everyone can see.

How much power do you think local “libs” have? Power enough to completely subvert the EPA and allow commercial development of a toxic property? Then who would get sued when people started getting sick?

Do you really think turning a toxic site into mixed commercial/residential without a proper cleanup is a GOOD idea?

Rob Arkley wanted to be subsidized by taxpayers. Doesn’t sound very “conservative” to me.

Take a walk downtown and ask yourself, “If Rob Arkley is such a captain of industry, why are all of his properties sitting undeveloped behind razor wire?” I don’t think calling that kind of urban decay a “cesspool” is unfair.

He’s had a quarter century to shit or get off the pot, but he’d rather wait for taxpayer handouts.

I lost my house,put in jail, job was taken away from me . Got out of jail , got a job and have a home again, pretty simple, must want to work. I don’t think Rob had any impact on my situation what so ever but I don’t blame others for my own failures.

The knuckleheads that run Willits could have prevented this by posting reserve police officers at the two major controlled intersections to direct traffic during heavy traffic days. The stoplight settings were not cutting it. With Coyote Valley gas who needs Willits? Can’t come soon enough!

The traffic problem here is about as old as the avarage politician/ “knuckleheads”. Reserve police officers were cut out of the meager local budget, and they wouldn’t help highway traffic much since 65% of the vehicles are “local” and heavy traffic is M thru F 7 months each year! There are 5 signaled intersections, which can’t be adjusted without causing worse traffic problems to other streets… cars have to get to their final destinations somehow. All that has been studied by engineers smarter than me and much smarter than you. Folks will be much more happy to visit local restaurants now, when they see how passing thru Little Lake Valley is between 10 to 40 minutes FASTER.

Yea, been waiting for this By-pass to be opened. I love Willits, but, the traffic during the summer time is very rough and if it’s hotter than Hades, than it makes it that much more unbearable. I will still go into Willits if I need something to eat or drink. Always stopped at Jack n Box coming and going.

That would be like Medford, OR, where I-5 is elevated right through the middle of the city. The city seems to be doing quite well lately, with lots of expansion and new construction. Even right under the freeway.

You can look at Sacramento to see how well a city can make use of the space under elevated freeways. Bike trails, farmers markets, flea markets, storage units (not pretty but a good source of revenue!) The whole city is a web of elevated freeways, traffic moves efficiently, yet there is plenty of green space and the whole city has a pleasant, suburban feel. It’s a bicyclists dream, actually!

I’m excited for the bypass to open! I was born and raised in Willits. I work in Ukiah and live on the north side of town it takes me over 50 minutes to get home most days. I am hopeful that the bypass will reduce my commute by 20 minutes a day, that is time I can be with my family at home, not stuck in traffic! Yay CalTrans!